681 - Back to School Energy; Music Licenses for Learning
September 2, 2011 Learning TRENDS by Elliott Masie - September 2, 2011.
#681 - Updates on Learning, Business & Technology.
55,441 Readers - http://www.masie.com - The MASIE Center.
Host of Learning 2011 - Over 1,087 Colleagues Registered!
1. “School Days!” A New Year Begins After Labor Day.
2. Music Licenses for Learning - Design Decisions.
1. “School Days!” A New Year Begins After Labor Day: In just 4 days, my New Year begins. You see, I still think of the year as starting the first day of school, which was the day after Labor Day (here in the U.S.) as I was growing up.
The start of school meant a new teacher, new school books, new subjects to master and a deep dive into learning - after a great summer vacation. It often meant some new clothes (or at least some new hand-me-down clothes from a neighbor), a new loose leaf notebook (with plastic reinforcements to keep the pages from tearing) and a few other school supplies.
Decades later, my year still starts right after Labor Day. Here are a few of the things that I will be doing on Tuesday, my virtual first day back at school:
* School Supplies - I’ll stop at the store and buy one or two new notebooks, pens and other school supplies.
* New Calendar - I’ll get a 2011 - 2012 Academic Calendar to hang on my wall, marking the Sept. to Sept. year cycle.
* Books Ordered - My Amazon account is busy as I buy eBooks and hardcovers to enjoy in this new year. I got 6 yesterday!
* Goals and Objectives - My whiteboard will get cleaned and the staff will see my targets for the next few months with a fresh eye.
* Registration Spikes - Once September starts, we watch a marked spike in the rate of registrations for Learning 2011 as people start to focus on the Fall. We already have 1,087 colleagues signed up, but it will rise as it is now the Fall season.
* Style Shifts - Almost every Fall, I try to change up one aspect of my style: how I approach work or life. This year…hmmmmm?
I find myself feeling the excitement of the kid going back to school as Labor Day comes around. I reach out to friends I haven’t spoken to since June, share summer stories and make plans to connect now that the “School Year” has started. And, feeling alive and focused as a learner is great.
So, am I alone in this? If you also think of the year as starting in September, send me a note to emasie@masie.com .
2. Music Licenses for Learning - Design Decisions: If you walk into a session at Learning 2011 in Orlando in November and hear some music playing, it will be legal. We have a Code of Conduct at The MASIE Center to have full licensed rights to any music that we play at an event.
While it would be simple to just pop in a CD that we bought, or download a song from iTunes, or play a streamed clip from the web, it would not be legal or appropriate.
So, we use several music licensing bureaus, such as ASCAP and BMI, to have an event-wide license for Learning 2011. We pay between $800 to $1,300 per year (based on number of days and participants) and are fully covered.
Another strategy is to just use “royalty free” music, but I love to have familiar tunes and even songs that relate to the themes of the sessions: “Respect” for a talk about roles in Learning or “Lean on Me” for mentoring strategies. Knowing that we can play almost any song, I have fun in the next 9 weeks picking a play list for the General Sessions and breakouts.
Many events don’t bother with licensing or assume that the hotel has paid a fee. But, to be in full compliance, we are doing the paperwork for music licenses for the 4,000 ears that will be at Learning 2011 in just 66 days. Follow along with our Design Decisions blog at http://www.learning2011.com/designblog
Yours in Learning,
Elliott Masie.
email: emasie@masie.com
MASIE Center Seminars, Events and Services:
* Learning 2011 - Nov 6 to 9, 2011 - Orlando, Florida.
* Membership in The Learning CONSORTIUM
Info and Registration: http://www.masie.com
